Cybersecurity Issues

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Public Groupactive 3 days, 3 hours ago

A central point for collection of information that relates to computer security. Including, but not limited to, security advisories from the major vendors, major data breaches, “phishing” alerts, commentary regarding staffing levels. etc. etc.

The Department of Homeland Security has selected San Antonio as one of two Texas cities to participate in a cyber security-training program that is evolving with the support of a pioneering think tank at the University of Texas at San Antonio.

The program — dubbed the Community Cyber Security Maturity Model — seeks to instruct communities on how best to prevent or respond to terrorist attacks against information networks.

“All of us live in a world that is controlled by information networks,” Mayor Julián Castro said Saturday at UTSA, where officials gathered to announce the department’s partnership with the university’s Center for Infrastructure Assurance and Security.

Since the center’s formation in 2001, computer scientists there have been seminal in developing national models for cities and towns to respond to a cyber-attack.

The state’s capital, Austin, also will participate in the new program.

Officials here expect to hold an initial roundtable exercise in December or January, when representatives of entities across the city will gather to learn how best to collaborate in the event of a cyber-attack.

Don Ryan, senior information security project lead for the CIAS, said many local agencies do not realize the scope of the threat against their computer networks.

“The thing you have to remember about the Internet, when you touch it, it touches you,” Ryan said. “It saturates every aspect of our lives, and we’re unaware of it.”

San Antonio in 2002 was the first major city to conduct a “dark screen” exercise, in which local agencies simulated a terrorist infiltration into computer networks and a resulting disruption of emergency operations.

The federal government has since given the center millions of dollars, and the DHS’ new program will expand the exercises.